UTICA-ROME -- Earlier this week, we were surprised by the absence of ratings data for Townsquare Media's four radio stations in the latest update from Arbitron. But we've since heard that Townsquare still subscribes to "the book" in this market. We checked, and it appears Arbitron has updated the "topline" data to include the cluster, which includes perennial market leader Big Frog 104 (WFRG).
Previously, Arbitron had only released ratings for stations owned by Roser Communications Network, and the ratings company's website did not list Townsquare's stations among the subscribers for its Utica-Rome ratings report. We're not exactly sure when that was updated, but we noticed the Townsquare stations were added to the "public" chart on Friday evening. Arbitron did not indicate why Townsquare's stations were originally omitted or when the report was corrected, but at least a few of the national radio trade websites which show ratings still have the original chart, which only had the Roser stations.
Our own Utica-Rome Arbitron page here at CNYRadio.com has been updated to reflect the new data.
The new information bumps Roser's properties down by three rows, as Big Frog 104 maintains its position as the market's leader, posting a 12.3 rating, a couple tenths of a point higher than the Spring 2012 book. Next comes adult contemporary Lite 98.7 (WLZW), virtually unchanged from the spring, checking in at 11.7 for the fall book.
For classic hits Oldiez 96.1 (WODZ), it was a bit of a drop, 8.4 to 7.7 from spring to fall -- but it's still the station's second best book out of the past five.
Next is where Roser's Kiss-FM (WSKS/WSKU) comes into the mix, with its 7.0.
After that, we see Townsquare's 950 WIBX with a 5.7, nearly a point higher than the spring, but just about even with the previous fall.
Roser's Bug Country (WBUG/WBGK) and news/talk/AC hybrid WUTQ-FM finish out the chart, with a 3.3 and 1.7, respectively.
As we mentioned earlier this week, Arbitron only publicly shares ratings data for stations which subscribe to the full ratings report. As a result, we do not have access to ratings from non-subscribing stations, including those owned by Galaxy Communications, Arjuna Communications and Leatherstocking Media Group.
We'll further note that, for the stations disclosed, Arbitron only provides the "topline" audience estimates -- an overall average of listening habits by all persons age 12 and up, covering all dayparts 6am to midnight, for all seven days of the week. It's important to note that most radio stations target specific demographics within the overall audience, and the numbers listed above and on our ratings chart page do not necessarily reflect any station's performance within any specific target demo.